The internet is a great tool for transmitting information, but just because you read something on your friend’s Facebook wall or receive an email from your mother, that doesn’t mean it’s true.

One of the best websites for debunking a lot these digital myths is Snopes.com. If something seems too crazy to be true, it probably isn’t and Snopes does a good job of rooting out those false stories. Sometimes, though, those stories end up being true and Snopes will say as much.

Some of the urban legends on the site are aimed at travellers. These stories seem designed to prey on our fears of the bad things that could happen when you leave the safety of home.

Here are five examples:

EXPLODING SCANNERS:
Airport security experts have come up with the perfect way to deter terrorists. They have a scanner which safely detonates explosives that passengers may be attempting to smuggle aboard. These scanners not only remove the threat, but also kill the terrorist. The legal ramifications of such a device boggle the mind. It is science fiction and does not exist.http://www.snopes.com/crime/deserts/booth.asp

FAULTY PHRASE BOOKS:
Fans of Monty Python surely remember the Hungarian phrase book sketch which has a hapless traveller attempting to converse with a shopkeepr while using a poorly-translated guide that turns his simple queries into lascivious come-ons. Reports have circulated of a similar Japanese phrasebook which has landed travellers to Japan in trouble for asking that their buttocks be fondled. It never happened.http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/phrasebook.asp

KIDNEY THIEVES:
Be careful who you associate with when you travel because you may end up waking up in a bathtub only to discover that one of your kidneys has been stolen. A supposed band of criminals has been victimizing business travellers across the U.S. to harvest organs as part of a lucrative black market. The stories are completely fabricated.http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/kidney.asp

KIDNAPPERS:
Don’t leave any family members alone in your hotel room or when you get back you’ll discover not only have they been kidnapped, but the building where your hotel was will be empty and offer no evidence that you ever checked in. While there have been some high-profile kidnapping stories over the years of people on holiday, the plot described above is straight out of a mystery novel and gets circulated online as truth when clearly it is not.http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/hotel.asp